Today we’re looking at:

• Being prepared for service recovery

• The allure of the hotel bar

• Poll results: Elon owns Twitter. What will change?

Always being prepared for service recovery

“Early on in my hospitality career, I made it a point to find out what my options were to satisfy an upset customer,” Steve DiGioia writes. “I needed to know what I had the authority to do without getting further approval from my supervisor.”

• Could I “comp” it?

• Could I offer a free replacement?

• Could I give a discount coupon to use on a future visit?

• Could I provide a free upgrade?

“What answers could I give? I didn’t want to rely on anyone else, not even my boss. I’m in front of the upset customer so it’s MY job to fix it, no one else. I knew that any delay in finding a solution would only prolong their angst and make my mission more difficult.”

This is the mindset everyone in hospitality should have. If you’re not the owner, do what Steve did. Figure out what options you have in advance so you’re ready to solve problems on the spot.

Read the full article here

The allure of the hotel bar

Fran Hoepfner’s ode to the hotel bar in Gawker should give hope to anyone who wants to make their property the go-to spot in the neighborhood.

The hotel bar offers quiet. The hotel bar offers elegance. The hotel bar offers the illusion of travel close to home.

At the hotel bar, you can affect an air of mystery. You and your friends will no longer be presumed a casual social meet-up, but a long-awaited reunion. You and your date are not merely testing the waters, but finding a clandestine night to escape the rough and tumble world out there.

At the hotel bar, it will be too dark to be distracted by anything else. It will feel important and profound, classy and classic.

Read the full article here

Elon owns Twitter. What will change?

You might be wondering what this has to do with hospitality. Well, I got my start in hospitality reporting in the early days of Twitter, and to this day it not only plays a key role in how I publish this newsletter - but in how many hospitality providers serve their guests.

Today, Elon Musk bought Twitter. Tech and business media can’t stop talking about it. Does it matter to you? Apparently not that much:

With that behind us, I’d be curious: who is using Twitter to serve your guests - and seeing it as a helpful tool? Tweet me @Hospitality365